IP Address: What It Is and How To Find Yours

When using the Internet, you reveal a lot of information about yourself. One example is your IP address, which is unique and identifies both your router and gives away your location. In this article, we'll let you know about the different kinds of IP addresses and when it makes sense to conceal them.

An Internet Protocol (IP) address identifies devices on a network, whether at home or on the World Wide Web. Like a phone number, IP addresses are a unique combination of numbers, which makes it possible to link them to a single device. Whenever you visit a website, its servers will see your router's IP address. This isn't an invasion of your privacy: It lets those servers know where they need to send the data packets you've requested.

A public IPv4 IP address typically looks like this:

104.26.5.112

A public IPv6 IP address is a bit longer:

3A52:9109:7DC0:6774:7238:7746:DD5F:8B9A

Below, we'll explain what IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses are. There are other types of IPs too, namely:

Devices like smartphones, tablets, printers, and PCs connect to the Internet via a router. This serves as a gateway between network participants (you, your friends, your family, etc.) and the World Wide Web. However, some devices might have private IP addresses, making them uniquely identifiable on the network. These addresses are assigned by the router so that it knows where a request originated from.

One of the most commonly-used private IP addresses is 192.168.0.0. This sequence of numbers is not random: The first part, 192.168.0 (24-bit) comprises what is known as the Network ID, which will be the same for all network participants. The second part (8 bits) is the Host ID and identifies the device. This can range from 0 to 255, but in the example above, is 0.

Unlike a public IP address, private IPs don't have to be unique, since they're only used on a home network and won't provide access to the Internet. The number of possible combinations (65,536) makes it possible to identify all connected devices, even on large corporate networks.

A router generates and assigns a private IP address according to three factors:

Internet providers assign each router a public IP address so that other routers and servers on the World Wide Web can accurately identify it. Unlike a private IP address, this must be a unique number.

In the table below, we've summarized the differences between both types of IP addresses:

An IPv4 IP address, like 35.246.185.33, can be displayed either in bits (32) or bytes (4). This means that there exist 2^32 or approximately 4.29 billion possible combinations. At first glance, this may seem like quite a lot, however, more than two decades ago, the number of publicly available IP addresses was starting to run out. For that reason, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) developed a new system.

Known as IPv6, these addresses are 128 bits long, allowing for 7.9 x 10^28 possible combinations. In other words, even if everyone on the planet had a billion devices each, it would take 10 Earths to exhaust the permutations. As such, the danger of running out of IP addresses in the near and distant future has gone away.

IPv6 IP addresses are written in hexadecimal form (base 16), consisting of numbers from 0-9, as well as the letters a-f. In order to make sense of the combinations, 16-bit (4-character) groups are separated by a semi-colon.

Because a website's IP address doesn't usually change on its own, it's commonly referred to as a static IP address. Since they don't change, static IP addresses allow Internet users, as well as DNS services, to locate the resource that they're looking for without too much effort. Just think how frustrating it would be if your favorite restaurant or store had a new physical address every time you wanted to visit.

Most organizations and businesses prefer static IP addresses for this reason since they more readily facilitate remote access to Intranet resources. However, static IP addresses need to be purchased from an Internet provider and can be expensive. In addition, they make life easier for hackers, since the target's location doesn't change.

On the other hand, individuals who connect to the Internet via a router are assigned a new IP address every session. Since these are automatically generated by a DHCP server, users don't have to take any action on their own. Cybercriminals also run into difficulties when IP addresses change so frequently.

It's easy to find out any device's IP address, regardless of whether it's a tablet, smartphone, or PC. The same goes for website IP addresses. Below, we'll show you how to do this.

If using Windows, you can find out both your private and public IP addresses with the following steps:

Finding your IP address on a system running macOS is even easier than on Windows:

It's just as easy to find out what your IP address is on an iPhone as on macOS:

If you have an Android smartphone or device follow these steps to find out its IP address:

If you only want to find out what your public IP address is, you can on websites like Whatismyipaddress.com. Internet Tools such as Ipinfo can show you a domain's IP address or server location, such as those for EXPERTE.com or bbc.co.uk.

Back in 2010 Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Google, said: "We know where you are. We know where you were. We know, more or less, what you think." It's no secret that search engines, Internet providers, and websites track users by their IP addresses, cookies, or social media profiles. Even though this is distressing, your IP address is actually more important owing to what it reveals about your physical location.

No one is going to knock on your door, however, things like your ZIP code and what neighborhood you're living in can be determined from it. This isn't all bad either, since you'll get accurate weather forecasts, or ads from new restaurants close by. This can feel like an invasion of your privacy since strangers will have more information about you than you might have been willing to offer up.

Through phishing or data leaks, cybercriminals can also find out your IP address. Hackers often collect IP addresses and then use them for IP spoofing. This occurs when they conceal their real IP address to launch DDoS attacks using stolen or compromised IPs from unsuspecting victims. Anyone who wants to stay ahead of online threats has plenty of reasons to safeguard their IP address.

Most people don't mind legitimate businesses and corporations prying into their lives for marketing purposes. However, if this makes you uncomfortable, hiding your IP address is one of the first steps you can take to protect your online privacy.

Another good reason to conceal your IP address is that it allows you to bypass geoblocking or regional restrictions. If you've ever been unable to access or watch content because of where you physically are, you know how frustrating this can be. By taking on a different IP address, you can watch British or German Netflix and check out shows or movies that might not be part of your local catalog. All that's needed is a new IP address.

Should you be visiting a country like China, where the Web is heavily censored and social media like Facebook and Instagram are usually blocked, you'll quickly want to find a way to get back on the "real" Internet. The only option for breaking through the Great Firewall is to hide your IP with a VPN, Tor, or a proxy server. In the next section, we'll let you know what the advantages and disadvantages of each option are.

There are several ways to change your IP address, such as:

An IP address identifies any Internet-capable device. Along with private IP addresses, which only play a role within a network, public IP addresses facilitate Internet communication between routers and servers. While the former have dynamic IP addresses that constantly change, the latter relies on static or permanent addresses.

When surfing the Web websites that you visit will see your IP address. With these, businesses can determine where you're physically located, making it possible to target you with personalized ads. However, cybercriminals can misuse IP addresses. Should you want to protect yourself, solutions like VPNs, proxy services, or Tor are all capable of hiding your IP address and bypassing regional content restrictions.

Even when you hide your IP address with one of the above, search engines, apps, and marketing companies will be able to track you. To be as anonymous online as possible, you'll have to embrace some additional measures. These include so-called privacy browsers, or limiting your usage of apps and social media. Whatever steps you take, remember that there's no such thing as 100% anonymity.